Because we don’t have the luxury of being single-issue

The Journal for Critical Animal Studies (JCAS) seeks essays from women of color scholars and activists across a variety of disciplines and social justice initiatives to develop understandings on the issues of race, gender, and animality in critical animal studies. Since the term “critical animal studies” was introduced by the Institute for Critical Animal Studies, there has been a void of people of color contributions to the new and developing field. Particularly absent have been the thoughts, concerns, and activism of women of color. For critical animal studies to engage a holistic politics for total liberation, women of color must play a role in the field’s development. The goals of this issue are (1) to vitalize the intellectual participation of women of color in critical animal studies, (2) to examine overlapping concerns that are central to critical animal studies, feminist theory, and critical race theory, and (3) to promote avenues of thought and ideas for action that can move us beyond pernicious forms of “othering” that undergird nonhuman and human animal suffering. Topics may include:

It’s a special issues calling for critical essays about animal studies by women of color. But normally, the journal seeks all voices to talk about critical animal studies. Since WOC are underrepresented in academic scholarship on critical animal studies, this journal issue will try to add more of these voices. Hope that explanation helps.